N. Lehigh's Second Half Tops Lehighton

Dave Oertner was more than pleased that Northern Lehigh achieved just two of its three halftime goals last night in a 73-52 Centennial League victory over backyard rival Lehighton.

Despite leading 28-27 at halftime, the Bulldogs had not been especially sharp because of an avalanche of turnovers -- which contributed to their failure to settle into an offensive rhythm -- and under the glass, Northern Lehigh was allowing Lehighton plenty of open space and the Indians were happy to advantage.

"I didn't ask for a lot at halftime. I tried to stress that we had to stop taking the stupid fouls, that we couldn't give Lehighton any second shots, and that we had to control the basketball ... and not be crazy with it," Oertner said.

"And, they listened."

From the one-point cushion after 16 minutes, the Bulldogs turned it up a notch and raced off to a 49-37 lead at the end of three quarters and were never challenged.

After swapping baskets until Scott Noakes buried back-to-back 3-point scores at the start of the third period, Lehighton called time to assess matters and was able to battle the host bucket for bucket to the two-minute mark of the period as Northern Lehigh failed to play defense.

But the press suddenly started to reaping dividends, and Bob Bowens, Damian Olwine and Corey Frantz (a 3-point bucket) carried the Bulldogs to a 49-37 lead at the end of the quarter.

"In that third quarter, we did a real good job of execution. We got some threes off the fast break and just did a real super job keeping them for scoring," he said.

`And, that carried us into the final period. Once they got behind, they had to foul us (hitting 13-of-15 from the line) and we were able to open a game that had been very close."

Lehighton had a three-point first quarter advantage but the clubs tied twice before Northern Lehigh grabbed a 17-15 lead at the end of the first period. The Bulldogs then went up by four, causing Lehighton to call time at the 3:48 mark of the second stanza. A pair of free throws by Jason Vermillion had Lehighton on top 27-25 with 30 seconds to go to intermission before Frantz buried a 3-point shot.

"We are small and we like to play a full court game, but we made a lot of stupid passes early in the game," Oertner said. "We were trying to make great passes instead of the solid passes and, when only one of four passes get to its destination, you're getting yourself in trouble," he said.

"In the first half, we were giving them just one shot (until center Bob Bowens got in foul trouble) and then they started to get second shots and built some momentum," Oertner said.

"Losing Bob hurts us and we were throwing the ball around -- and a lot of that comes from a lack of execution. A lot of things we improved on in that second half ... but we still have a lot of things to do. At times, we improved the rebounding and then did a nice job of controlling the boards and running the offense.

"For us to be successful, we have to do things very well," Oertner said.

Lehighton fell to 8-11 and 4-1 in league play. Northern Lehigh hiked its mark to 12-9 and 3-2.

"When we covered outside, they scored inside and, when we covered inside, they were scoring outside with the 3-point plays. Give them the credit. They played a great game," Lehighton head coach Kevin Hunsicker said.

"We are 4-0 in the second half because Kerry Smith was Mr. Inside for us and Vermillion was Mr. Outside. Northern Lehigh played both roles tonight," he said.